Shu-Er Chow

Strenuous, acute exercise affects reciprocal modulation of platelet and polymorphonuclear leukocyte activities under shear flow in men

Summary.  Vigorous exercise transiently increases the risk of primary cardiac arrest. The reciprocal modulation of platelet and polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) activities is important in the pathogenesis of thrombosis. This study investigates how strenuous, acute exercise affects platelet–PMN reciprocal modulation by closely examining 18 sedentary men who exercised strenuously on a bicycle ergometer. Shear‐induced platelet activation, PMN interaction with surface‐adherent platelets under shear flow, and PMN‐dependent inhibition of platelet activation were measured both before and immediately after exercise. Analytical results can be summarized as follows: (i) shear‐induced platelet adhesion on fibronectin‐coated surface as well as ADP‐induced release of platelet soluble P‐selectin release and elevation of [Ca2+]i significantly increases after strenuous exercise; (ii) strenuous exercise is associated with higher velocity and percentage of rolling PMNs and lower numbers of PMNs remaining bound to surface‐adherent platelets under shear flow than at rest; (iii) PMN‐dependent inhibition of platelet [Ca2+]i elevation and soluble P‐selectin release after strenuous exercise is much greater than that at rest; and (iv) strenuous exercise increases PMN‐derived nitric oxide metabolite level and reduces oxidized low‐density lipoprotein‐promoted interaction between platelets and PMNs. Therefore, we conclude that platelet activity may be sensitized by strenuous exercise. However, strenuous exercise can also simultaneously enhance the antiplatelet effect of PMNs. The finding provides a new insight into the negative feedback of PMNs against exercise‐evoked platelet‐related thrombotic risk.

Wogonin induces cross-regulation between autophagy and apoptosis via a variety of Akt pathway in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells

Autophagy as well as apoptosis is an emerging target for cancer therapy. Wogonin, a flavonoid compound derived from the traditional Chinese medicine of Huang‐Qin, has anticancer activity in many cancer cells including human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, the involvement of autophagy in the wogonin‐induced apoptosis of NPC cells was still uninvestigated. In this study, we found wogonin‐induced autophagy had interference on the process of apoptosis. Wogonin‐induced autophagy formation evidenced by LC3 I/II cleavage, acridine orange (AO)‐stained vacuoles and the autophagosome/autolysosome images of TEM analysis. Activation of autophagy with rapamycin resulted in increased wogonin‐mediated autophagy via inhibition of mTOR/P70S6K pathway. The functional relevance of autophagy in the antitumor activity was investigated by annexin V‐positive stained cells and PARP cleavage. Induction of autophagy by rapamycin ameliorated the wogonin‐mediated apoptosis, whereas inhibition of autophagy by 3‐methyladenine (3‐MA) or bafilomycin A1 increased the apoptotic effect. Interestingly, this study also found, in addition the mTOR/P70S6K pathway, wogonin also inhibited Raf/ERK pathway, a variety of Akt pathways. Inactivation of PI3K/Akt by their inhibitors significantly induced apoptosis and markedly sensitized the NPC cells to wogonin‐induced apoptosis. This anticancer effect of Akt was further confirmed by SH6, a specific inhibitor of Akt. Importantly, inactivation of its downstream molecule ERK by PD98059, a MEK inhibitor, also induced apoptosis. This study indicated wogonin‐induced both autophagy and apoptosis through a variety of Akt pathways and suggested modulation of autophagy might provide profoundly the potential therapeutic effect. J. Cell. Biochem. 113: 3476–3485, 2012.

Resveratrol induced ER expansion and ER caspase-mediated apoptosis in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells.

Autophagy and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response is important for cancer cells to maintain malignancy and resistance to therapy. trans-Resveratrol (RSV), a non-flavonoid agent, has been shown to induce apoptosis in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells. In this study, the involvements of tumor-specific ER stress and autophagy in the RSV-mediated apoptosis were investigated. In addition to traditional autophagosomes, the images of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that RSV markedly induced larger, crescent-shaped vacuoles with single-layered membranes whose the expanded cisternae contains multi-lamellar membrane structures. Prolonged exposure to RSV induced a massive accumulation of ER expansion. Using an EGFP-LC3B transfection and confocal laser microscopy approach, we found RSV-induced EGFP-LC3 puncta co-localized with ER-tracker red dye, implicating the involvement of LC3II in ER expansion. The proapoptotic effect of RSV was enhanced after suppression of autophagy by ATG7 siRNA or blocking the autophagic flux by bafilomycin A1, but that was not changed after targeted silence of IRE1 or CHOP by siRNA. Using caspase inhibitors, we demonstrated the upregulation of caspase-12 (casp12) and the activation of casp4 were associated with the proapoptotic induction of RSV through the caspase-9/caspase-3 pathway. Intriguingly, siRNA knockdown of casp12, but not caspase-4, decreased the susceptibility of the NPC cells to RSV-mediated apoptosis. Further, we showed that RSV dose-dependently increased the ceramide accumulation as assessed by LC–MS/MS system. Using serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT, a key enzyme of de novo ceramide biosynthesis) inhibitors (l-cycloserine and myriocin), we found the increased ceramide accumulation was strongly correlated with the proapoptotic potential of RSV. This study revealed the ER expansion and upregulation of ER casp12 together may indicate profound biological effects of RSV and contributed to NPC cell death. Targeting the different status of ER stress may provide a possible strategy for cancer treatments.

Negative pressure accelerated monolayer keratinocyte healing involves Cdc42 mediated cell podia formation.

BACKGROUND Negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is developed to facilitate wound healing at controlled subatmospheric pressures in modern medicine. Molecular mechanism for this therapy is still undefined. OBJECTIVE This study highlights the localization and time-course of the cell division control protein 42 (Cdc42) in the cell membrane at ambient pressure (AP) and negative pressures of 75mmHg (NP75), 125mmHg (NP125) and 175mmHg (NP175). METHODS The prepared cells were cultured in a negative pressure incubator with the same O2 and CO2 tensions at the four different pressures. The effective time, complete wound closure time, cell volume, cell viability, and the fluorescence of proliferating cell nuclear antigens (PCNA) and actins were evaluated in cells at different pressures. Wound-healing process and Cdc42 fluorescence were examined in cells with the knockdown of Cdc42. Cdc42 pathway proteins in cell membranes were analyzed after incubation at different pressures for 6 and 12h. RESULTS The cells at NP125 had less wound closure time and obvious cell podia. Similar PCNA fluorescent intensity was observed in cells at different pressures. The Cdc42, neural Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein, and actin expression increased significantly (p<0.05) in plasma membranes of cells at NP125 for 12h. The knockdown of active Cdc42 resulted in the absence of Cdc42 expression at the cell leading edge. CONCLUSIONS The activation and localization of Cdc42 pathway proteins in the cell membrane are involved in the cell podia formation in keratinocytes at NP125. NPWT may facilitate cell migration to accelerate wound healing.

Exercise paradoxically modulates oxidized low density lipoproteininduced adhesion molecules expression and trans-endothelial migration of monocyte in men

Physical exercise can affect the risk of cardiovascular disease. Oxidized-low density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) promotes transendothelial migration (TEM) of monocyte, thereby accelerating the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. This study investigated how exercise intensity affects monocyte/EC interactions under ox-LDL-mediated condition. Light- (LIE), moderate- (MIE) and high- (HIE) intensity exercise (i.e., 40%, 60%, and 80% VO2max, respectively) on a bicycle ergometer in 18 sedentary healthy men were performed on three separate occasions. Before and immediately after exercise, ox-LDL-promoted expressions of monocyte adhesion molecules and TEM of monocyte, as well as oxidation of LDL and amounts of soluble adhesion molecules in plasma were measured. Analytical results showed that (1) ox-LDL furthered monocyte L-selectin shedding and Mac-1 expression, and an attendant increase in TEM of monocyte, while treating the monocyte with Mac-1 antibody inhibited the ox-LDL-promoted TEM of monocyte; (2) under ox-LDL-treated condition, MIE increased monocyte Mac-1 and LFA-1 expressions, enhancing the TEM of monocyte, whereas HIE downregulated monocyte Mac-1 expression, suppressing the TEM of monocyte; (3) LIE decreased basal LFA-1 expression as well as basal and ox-LDL-promoted TEM of monocyte; and (4) MIE and HIE, but not LIE, elevated plasma ox-LDL level, while there were no significant changes in sL-selectin, sE-selectin, sICAM-1, and sVCAM-1 following these exercises. Therefore, we conclude that monocyte activation and subsequent TEM promoted by ox-LDL are changed by short-term exercise in an intensity-dependent manner. These findings provide a new insight into the may aid the development of suitable exercise intensity enable people to prevent early atherogenesis.

Downregulation of p57kip2 promotes cell invasion via LIMK/cofilin pathway in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells

The members of Rho family are well known for their regulation of actin cytoskeleton to control cell migration. The Cip/kip members of cyclin‐dependent (CDK) inhibitors have shown to implicate in cell migration and cytoskeletal dynamics. p57kip2, a CDK inhibitor, is frequently down‐regulated in several malignancy tumors. However, its biological roles in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells remained to be investigated. Here, we found p57kip2 has nuclear and cytoplasm distributions and depletion of endogenous p57kip2 did not change the cell‐cycle progression. Inhibition of cell proliferation by mitomycin C promoted FBS‐mediated cell migration and accompanied with the downregulation of ΔNp63α and p57kip2, but did not change the level of p27kip1, another CDK inhibitor. By using siRNA transfection and cell migration/invasion assays, we found that knockdown of p57kip2, but not ΔNp63α, involved in promotion of NPC cell migration and invasion via decrease of phospho‐cofilin (p‐cofilin). Treatment with Y‐27632, a specific ROCK inhibitor, we found that dysregulation of ROCK/cofilin pathway decreased p‐cofilin expression and induced cell migration. This change of p‐cofilin induced actin remodeling and pronounced increase of membrane protrusions. Further, silence of p57kip2 not only decreased the interaction between p57kip2 and LIMK‐1 assayed by immunoprecipitation but also reduced the level of phospho‐LIMK1/2. Therefore, this study indicated that dysregulation of p57kip2 promoted cell migration and invasion through modulation of LIMK/cofilin signaling and suggested this induction of inappropriate cell motility might contribute to promoting tumor cell for metastasis. J. Cell. Biochem. 112: 3459–3468, 2011.

Quantifying cell behaviors in negative-pressure induced monolayer cell movement

Background Negative-pressure of 125 mmHg (NP) has been shown to accelerate wound healing. Effects of NP on human keratinocyte behaviors during wound healing process were highlighted in this study. Methods An NP incubator incorporating the electric cell–substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) technique has been built to quantify monolayer keratinocytes movement in serum-free media at the ambient pressure (AP) and NP for 12 h. Monolayer cell motions were continuously recorded by ECIS in the frequency range of 22.5–64 kHz. Membrane capacitance (Cm), cell–substratum resistance (α), and cell–cell junction resistance (Rb) were evaluated in cells at the different pressures. Results A greater monolayer cell migration distance was found in cells at NP. Decreased cell–substratum adhesion reflected in the significantly low α (AP:NP = ∼5 Ω0.5:∼3 Ω0.5⋅cm), decreased integrin expression, and increased cell–substratum distance were seen in cells at NP. A significantly increased Cm (AP:NP = ∼4:∼8 μF/cm2) in association with increased membrane ruffling and microtubule filaments were observed early in the monolayer cell movement at NP. A progressive drop in the Rb from 1.2 Ω·cm2 to 0.8 Ω·cm2 corresponding to the gradually decreased E-cadherin expressions were observed 6 h after wound closure after NP treatment. Conclusion A quick membrane ruffling formation, an early cell–substratum separation, and an ensuing decrease in the cellular interaction occur in cells at NP. These specific monolayer cell behaviors at NP have been quantified and possibly accelerate wound healing.

Negative pressure induces p120-catenin-dependent adherens junction disassembly in keratinocytes during wound healing.

A negative-pressure of 125mmHg (NP) has been widely used to treat chronic wounds in modern medicine. Keratinocytes under NP treatment have shown accelerated cell movement and decreased E-cadherin expression. However, the molecular mechanism of E-cadherin regulation under NP remains incompletely understood. Therefore, we investigated the E-cadherin regulation in keratinocytes (HaCaT cells) under NP. HaCaT cells were treated at ambient pressure (AP) and NP for 12h. Cell movement was measured by traditional and electric wound healing assays at the 2 different pressures. Mutants with overexpression of p120-catenin (p120(ctn)) were used to observe the effect of NP on p120(ctn) and E-cadherin expression during wound healing. Cell fractionation and immunoblotting data showed that NP increased Y228-phosphorylated p120(ctn) level and resulted in the translocation of p120(ctn) from the plasma membrane to cytoplasm. Immunofluorescence images revealed that NP decreased the co-localization of p120(ctn) and E-cadherin on the plasma membrane. Knockdown of p120(ctn) reduced E-cadherin expression and accelerated cell movement under AP. Overexpression of the Y228-phosphorylation-mimic p120(ctn) decreased E-cadherin membrane expression under both AP and NP. Phosphorylation-deficient mutants conferred restored adherens junctions (AJs) under NP. The Src inhibitor blocked the phosphorylation of p120(ctn) and impeded cell migration under NP. In conclusion, Src-dependent phosphorylation of p120(ctn) can respond rapidly to NP and contribute to E-cadherin downregulation. The NP-induced disassembly of the AJ further accelerates wound healing.